For all those waiting for the Pathfinder 2e sheet, the first generation is now live! There are some known issues and pending additional functionality, and any bug reports should be made here.

November is coming, and with it comes 'National Novel Writing Month', or NaNoWriMo. For those who don't know, this is an annual personal challenge to write a short novel of 50,000 words or more in one month. Sign up may be found here: NaNoWriMo Sign Up

If you sign up or have already signed up, you can go to the following link and give your name as registered on the NaNoWriMo site to have your tracking widget added in the thread. Weavers have been participating in the challenge since 2012, both helping brainstorm with each other as well as providing support and encouragement where needed. Check it out if you've always wanted to push your creative writing skills!
MW NaNoWriMo 2018

On December 15th we will begin the Myth Weavers Storycrafting Contest, which will have some great prizes! Writers will have two months to write a short story about a fantasy-setting minor holiday that has been selected by staff. Full details will be announced on the start date, but we will reveal part of the grand prize: a Farland campaign setting! Check here for current info on the contest!

Small Men in a Big WorldA party of halflings sets out to rescue their kidnapped kinsfolk

The village of Heawold is terribly quiet. Not a single halfling is to be seen about. The small smithy stands quiet, embers slowly cooling. The stoves are empty, the kitchens are cold and like the many gardens deserted. Both the small fenced playgrounds are empty except for many small lonely toys.

The only evidence of life to be seen is the movement of shadows through the arched and lightly curtained windows of the great hall. A town meeting looks to be in progress but if that is the case where are all the children and their keepers? Town meetings are no place for children.

Inside the hall a restless quiet fills the crowded room with tension. Those who dare to whisper are shushed and all heads turn in unison when two figures came in from the east antechamber.

Fortolm leads the way and slowly makes his way towards the stage steps. He stumbles once but the ever present Waltin is quick to take the Chief’s arm and helps him the rest of the way. The kidnapping of his two children has put a massive strain on Fortolm’s already poor health and no one has anything reassuring to say. All have been hit hard by the events of the previous night and the normally cheerful hall todays contains naught but grim frowns. Even the normally placid Waltin snaps at Lana who was already doing her best to squeeze her bulk against the wall to let them pass.

Earlier shock, fear and sorrow has been mostly replaced by anger. The fact that no one had any idea who to direct that anger at meant that a few people had ended up almost fighting amongst themselves at the smallest of provocations. There is a cry from the back of the room and a small baby is quickly mollified. No one mentions that there is a baby or even that there are a dozen other small children sequestered in dark corners of the great hall. What would normally have been a serious break in tradition was accepted as being a just precaution. No one would risk the loss of any more of their children and no one wanted to be left alone. Even Sengo, his head heavily bandaged and his arm in a sling, is present with Belia the healer at his side trying to ease his obvious discomfort.

As Fortolm takes his seat on his tall stool an expectant hush fills the room. Each of the scouting groups had reportedly in but not one had mentioned a word of what they had found to anyone else and all keenly awaited the news.

Fortolm coughs once, accepts a drink from a mug held by Waltin and then haltingly starts to speak, his voice the weakest it’s ever been, “Adan. Adan’s group. They found the tracks. The tracks led. They led. Adan. Adan can you tell them.”

Adan quickly steps forward and speaks up his a clear strong voice, “The tracks led east along the base of Shyton Hill. We followed them as far as Ewnham Forest.” A murmur of angry voices rises up from the crowd but Adan just raises his voice and continues, “The tracks led straight into the goblin woods and looked to be heading for Gorbul but they weren’t any goblins I’ve seen before. The prints were too big and they also had a wagon pulled by heavy hoofed creatures like nothing I’ve ever seen. That’s all.” Adan sits down again as angry voices raise in volume once more.

Fortolm takes another drink from the mug and tries to speak but ends up just coughing up some of the pale yellow liquid. This quiets the crowd and Fortolm makes one more attempt to speak before he waves his hand at Waltin to take over. Waltin takes a step forward and his aging but crisp voice is loud with barely suppressed anger, “Why the goblins have done or allowed this we don’t know and I don’t rightly care. Maybe they have given as no trouble for many long years but don’t forget our history. Yes they attended the last peace and trade talks two months past but most here remember before peace was hard won. It has been decided to send out a party to find out what has happened to our people and bring them home. We don’t want another war with them, we are not strong enough to fight them alone and....”

He doesn’t complete the sentence but every adult and most of the children knows what he has left unspoken, during the last battle with the Goblins the village had been forced to ally with the dwarves. That alliance had resulted in victory and the peace they had until recently enjoyed, but it had hurt them severely during many subsequent winters as the cost of that help had emptied many a larder. The dwarves help did not come cheap.

His voice has lost some of it’s anger and a faint tone of pleading has entered it, “Well, if we can send in a small group to find the truth and bring out people back home quietly it will be all for the best.”

Fortolm doesn’t look all that pleased by Waltin’s phrasing during the short speech but says nothing and is nodding agreement by the end.

Walktin waits for a second wave from Fortolm before he continues to go. This time his tone is all business, “We need a party to go and spy out the goblin woods, follow those tracks, find our folk and bring them back. Please step forward if you would be counted amongst them.”

I am looking for maybe four to six players. This is not going to be combat heavy and I’ll play loose and fast with encounter balance and rules such as initiative order and ranges. Might put up a few maps for any big important battles over pools of sharks or the like. If you get into a battle with creatures way too powerful and don’t turn and run you will get beaten up and some or all might die.

We will be using the DnD 5e playtest rules starting with the 3rd version (100812) and upgrading as new playtests come out. There will be almost certainly be the need to occasionally rework characters though concepts shouldn't change and I’m willing to create house rules if it becomes necessary. I’m more interested in characters as personalities rather than as collections of numbers.

Looking for committed players keen to keep up a good pace. Ideally 5+ posts a week and be willing to let us know in advance if you are going to be unavailable for any period longer than a day (excluding weekends which are always optional).

Don’t feel the need to always wait for everyone to have their say. Post as often as you want. I have no issue with different players being more active at different times. Overall a balance is good but not every character is going to need to be as involved in every aspect of the adventure.

I’m not after every post being an epic tale, many short posts would be better than the rare lengthy one. A mixture of frequent short and the occasional long would be ideal and I’ll be posting like that. My plan is for everyone to keep posting even if one player goes quiet. Characters and what they are involved in will be sidelined if waiting over a day for them would slow the game. Hopefully they will be brought back in when players become active again. However I don’t want this to be the norm.

Your first few posts in the game will be about your characters life on a regular day in the village. Once you have had a chance to develop some connections with the other characters and describe some personal details the game proper will start.

I’ve been active on Myth-Weavers here for a little while and spent a lot of time running and playing mostly 4E games which I quite enjoyed till I got a bit burnt out. I now want to move to a more free flowing roleplaying style with less emphasis on combat and requiring a lot less preparation. Apart from having a few overarching plot lines I’d prefer to mostly ad-lib and adapt to the choices made by the characters. There will be a wiki for the game which I will attempt to update as your characters learn more about the world and its inhabitants.

A few of the games I've gm'd / am gming. Come Hell or High Water is the closest to what I want this game to be like.

I’m more interested in having an interesting mix personalities of the characters than having a group able to take on extreme combat situations. You can start by rolling stats in the stat rolling thread here and then decide if you want to use them or take the standard array.

Race has to be halfling, either Lightfoot or Stout. As suggested in the planning thread I’ll allow Lightfoot’s to swap out their Naturally Stealthy trait with the Halfling Hiding (Wood Elf Grace) feature at character creation.

Class choice will be a little restrictive. I won’t be accepting any warlocks as they don’t make a lot of sense in an area where fae and other mystical creatures are pretty much unknown. I might be tempted to accept one wizard or sorcerer if they not some power hungry megalomaniac in training. Clerics would worship the halfling god Yondalla or one of her children. All are venerated within the village.

Any background trait that suggest you will be accepted in the outside world will not function as stated and backgrounds such as Bounty Hunter, Knight, Soldier, Spy and Thug really do not fit the feel of the game anyhow. Feel free to develop your own background concept or just pick three skills and give reasons for them. I’ll also entertain any trait ideas but they have to be of equivalent power level to those in the rules or lower for me to accept them. I’ll also accept the performer background from Acquisitions Incorporated magical or not.

As far as specialities only Necromancer is not suitable.

Many of the classes, backgrounds and specialities indicate you have some experience in adventurer like activities. You have not. You are just naturally skilled and are probably unaware that you are a cut above the average citizen. But then again what you might be facing in the Big World could be much more than your average citizen anyhow.

Characters should be personally vested in whatever the quest is and be more focused on achieving that than dealing with any grudges against each other or pursuing personal agendas. Not that they can't also have one or both of those. I don’t want any silent types cause I think interactions between the characters is a big part of the fun.

Also I’d like all players to include a statblock formatted as or very similar to the following in any combat posts or where any skill checks are required. Not required for the application.

Elves do not need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you always know where and from whom you can obtain that information. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature.

While underground, you know your approximate depth and how to retrace your path. You can identify the age of visible stonework and make a reasonable guess as to the culture responsible for its construction.

All your Hit Dice increase by one step: from d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d8 to d10, d10 to d12, and d12 to 2d6. At 1st level, you gain 1 extra hit point. Whenever you gain a level, you similarly increase the die rolled to determine how many hit points you gain (or simply gain 1 extra hit point per level).

You have a military rank from your career as a soldier (the exact nature of your rank is determined at the time you select this background). Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they will defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment, horses and vehicles for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

[B]Lightfoot Halfling Traits[/B]
[B]Speed[/B]: 25 feet / [B]Size:[/B] Small. [ooc=Weapon Restriction]As a Small creature, you cannot use heavy weapons.[/ooc]
[B]Languages:[/B] You can speak, read, and write Common and Halfling.
[ooc=Halfling Weapon Training]When you attack with a dagger, a short sword, or a sling with which you have proficiency, the damage die for that weapon increases by one step: from d4 to d6, or d6 to d8.[/ooc], [ooc=Lucky]Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.[/ooc], [ooc=Halfling Nimbleness]You can move through the spaces of hostile creatures that are larger than you.[/ooc], [ooc=Ability Score Adjustment]Your starting Dexterity score increases by 1.[/ooc], [ooc=Naturally Stealthy]You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is one size category larger than you.[/ooc] (or [ooc=Halfling Hiding]You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.[/ooc])

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

To apply please post at least the following for your application. My preference is for it to be in character, ie you could describe your character as they step forward and declare the reason they are volunteering whilst internally they think of the various rumours of the outside world they have heard. But feel free to be creative. You are welcome to take some liberties in describing the setting but try not to contradict anything already down or take anything too far otherwise I’ll be requesting that you edit it.

Character Name (Something that doesn’t clash with these preferred)
Character Sub Race, Class, Background, Speciality: (feel free to include these in an spoiler tag)

Character Description (at least a few defining features that separate you from the other halflings)
Character Personality (an indication of the kind of halfling you present to others)Connection to those that have been kidnapped or the reason why you are volunteering.
At least three rumours of the outside world that you have heard (I will refer to these to get an idea of what is out there or what lies you have been told)

Applicants should expect questions in this thread. If there is enough interest I plan to get a few characters started within a week or two and have most if not the rest of the party selected shortly thereafter.

Please let me know if you have added a character and don't see it added to this list within a few days.

Note: This game is taking rolling acceptance. We plan to accept no more than four players by the end of the first week (21st October) and then up to four more before the ad closes. We've decided to accept up to eight players for this game as that should provide more interaction whilst still being manageable.

Game Description:

The small village of Heawold is neither big nor special in any particular way. Whilst not prosperous the halflings who call it home are a generally very content lot. They live their lives busy producing fine wine and food that they enjoy as often as possible and occasionally trade to the dwarves of Nuledzar and the Goblins of Gorbul Town.

The dale they live in is quite safely tucked in between the Mountains to the North and West where little bar dwarves and the occasional grumpy giant live, the crowded trees of Ewnham forest to the East - the domain of Goblins but the have been peaceful for many years, and the cold broken tundra and forests to the south where very little bar tall and ancient trees grow and only the occasional bear roams.

However last night the village was raided. Sengo the sentry was struck from behind and sent tumbling out of his watch tower. The two nurseries-schools were entered and some sort of drugged rag was used on the inhabitants whilst they slept to keep them that way. All of the children around the ages of seven to fifteen and two of the nurses were taken.

Only those children whose turn it was to stay with their parents and those few in the small hospital remained safe.

A small party of villagers sets off to find and return the missing children and the two nurses. None has any illusions about the world outside the village being anything other than scary, unfriendly and outright dangerous. The furthest any of the villagers has been is to the dwarven city of Nuledzarís outer gate or to the edge of the Ewnham forest to trade.

Ugh, that sounds like they're dropping back to strict Vancian casting as the default mode, which means that it's the only mode that will ever be allowed in most 5e games. Talk about a buzzkill. Ah well. I agree the sorcerer was flawed and in bad need of a fix though. Pity the poor warlock, he never gets any love. I really liked the pact they had in the packet too, nicely flavored, betting they ruin the class entirely by converting it to Vancian casting.

Really unsure what to do now, I'm not a big fan of Wizards and it sounds like they're getting a major change in the next packet (sounds like they won't be the same class at all really). Wish they had the monk up, cause that would be hilarious.

I am debating between a Cleric[Sun] and Rogue[Thief]. I tend towards the Rogue[Thief] type but I figure we will need a Cleric and it could be interesting to check out for something different. The smaller list of available spells is actually a plus for me since I tend to avoid magic typically.
Granted with a party of 6 we could have two of each class assuming no arcane magic.

Altemen gave Vicar Fetemar a forlorn look. He knew that his duties were at the church. And the Vicar would need the extra help to keep the community afloat, giving them counselling and encouragement through the hard times. But the Vicar also knew Altemen. No words were needed to remind him of the young boys heart for his people. They had already taked this morning. Altemen had a strong desire to help in any way he could. Some thought he might hide within the parish walls, afraid that he may be taken next. But that is why he must step forward. Most of his friends were now gone. Apparently he was just old enough to not be desired by who or whatever came for them. He may even be next. And so he stepped forward - to heal the community, protect those that were driven or protective enough to venture out, and to bring his friends back home. "I offer my services to search out your children and our friends. May Yondalla lead us to ur family and protect our return."

Altemen was not a large as some of the others of his community, but it seems the gods favored him and he was generally healthy. Also growing up under the Vicar's tutelage meant little physical labor. And with that tutelage came a greater understanding of their divine inheritance from Yondalla, she in turn blessing her devotees.

Altemen had a slight tendency to stick out of the crowd in the community. While liking the common dress of subdued nature colors of his companions he also had a great liking for bright colors, especially yellows and oranges, reminding him of the sun's brilliance. He was a bit smaller physically, but emotionally he surpassed those of his age, mostly due to his work in the parish, his eyes an observant and soothing sign of his inward experience.

Spending much time in the parish has allowed Altenmen to hear many varied rumors, most Vicar Fetemar told the community we completely false, but sometimes he was silent.

He has heard that there are other gods out there but Altemen know very little about them. He is curious what they are about and how Yondalla has helped them along their divine paths.

He knows there are a couple other races that tend to be larger than themselves, even larger than the dwarves but assumes most creatures are the size of themselves and the goblins.

He has heard that there is a growing darkness in the land. On man that came to the Vicar ranted that it was claiming the entire land and would soon swallow even their own community. Knowing how pleasant their own community is he believed the Vicar that everything was fine. Sure, there was the odd goblin party, but they were were not a great threat, nothing compared to the former wars. But now that darkness had struck their town Alteman began to worry how dark the rest of the world was. Would Yondalla's light protect him from it all? Even a god's powers must have some limit.

Grimi, the town drunkard as he was so aptly referred to as had told the Vicar on several occasions of fantastical drinks he had had out in other lands. Drinks that could warm your bones on a bitter winter's night and drinks that allowed you to see faeries or made your limbs act as if not your own. Altemen doubted it was possibly for a beverage to due such things unless crafted by Yondalla herself, but then again he had heard that the dwarves had a love for some drink they called mead. They only had the light spring wine they fermented in their village.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

Once per day as an action, you can channel divinity (a magical effect). When you do so, choose a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the target is living, it regains hit points equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier. If the target is undead, it takes that amount of holy damage. A cleric who worships an evil deity instead deals unholy damage to a living creature and heals an undead creature.
As you gain levels, you can channel divinity more times each day (see the Cleric table). In addition, the amount of healing and damage increases as you gain levels. At 5th level, it becomes 2d8 + your Wisdom modifier.

You can cast a number of cleric spells per day, as noted in the Cleric Spells per Day table. Wisdom is your magic ability score.Spell Preparation: After a long rest, you can prepare a number of spells by spending time in prayer. You choose these spells from the cleric’s spell list. Preparing your spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least one minute per spell level for each spell you prepare.
You can prepare one spell for each spell slot you have. Thus, at 1st level you can prepare two 1st-level spells. Your domain also adds to the list of spells you have prepared each day.
Furthermore, you always have the turn undead spell prepared. It does not count against the number of spells you can prepare.Casting a Spell: When you cast a spell, you choose one of your prepared spells and use a spell slot of that spell’s level or higher. After you cast the spell, you lose the use of that slot until you prepare spells again, but the spell is still considered to be prepared.
You can use your spell slots to cast any combination of spells you have prepared, as long as you respect the level limit. For example, if you have bless and cure light wounds prepared and have two 1st-level spell slots available, you can cast each spell once or cast one of those spells twice.Rituals: You can cast any cleric spell you have prepared as a ritual, provided that the spell has a ritual version.Magical Attacks: When you make a magical attack using a cleric spell, you use your Wisdom modifier for the attack roll, and add a bonus to that roll based on the Magic Attack column in the Cleric table.Saving Throw DCs: When a cleric spell that you cast or a cleric feature that you use calls for a saving throw, the save DC equals 10 + your Wisdom modifier. As you gain levels, the DC increases, as noted in the Cleric table.

You choose a domain associated with your deity. Two domains are provided here: sun and war. At the indicated levels, your domain gives you a benefit.
Each domain includes a list of domain spells. You always have your domain’s spells prepared when you reach the given levels. These spells do not count against the number of spells you can prepare each day.

SunLevel 1: You gain the minor spell radiant lance. Additionally, you gain proficiency with light and medium armor, and you have fire resistance and radiant resistance.

Level Domain Spell
1 searing light
3 sunburst
5 daylight

Level 2: As an action, you can sacrifice a use of your Channel Divinity to create intense light in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on yourself. Each creature in the area makes a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes radiant damage equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier on a failure, or half that amount on a success.
Until the end of your next turn, you glow with bright light in a 20-foot-radius sphere. Invisible creatures are visible while in this light.

You detect the presence of any magic in a 30-foot cone originating from you. You can ignore the presence of magic that you are already aware of. If the magic you sense belongs to a school of magic, you learn what that school is.
This spell does not reveal invisible creatures or magic that conceals spells, objects, or creatures.

You touch an object. It sheds bright light in a 20-foot-radius sphere and shadows in a 40- foot-radius sphere. The light may be colored as you choose. The light lasts for 1 hour or until you cast this spell again.

Choose a living creature within 50 feet of you that can hear you. You speak a one-word command to it. If the target’s hit point maximum is 30 or more, it makes a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails the saving throw or has a hit point maximum less than 30, it spends its next turn doing as it was commanded.
Some typical commands and their effects follow. You might issue a command other than one of the ones described here. If you do so, the DM determines how the target behaves. If the target is prevented from following the command, the spell ends.Approach: The target moves toward you by the shortest and most direct route, ending its turn if it moves within 5 feet of you.Drop: The target drops whatever it is holding and then ends its turn.Flee: The target spends its turn moving away from you by the fastest available means.Grovel: The target falls prone and grovels for its entire turn.Halt: The target does not move and takes no actions. A flying creature stays aloft, provided it is able to do so.

Make a magical attack against a creature within 100 feet of you. The target takes 3d8 radiant damage on a hit, and half as much damage on a miss. The damage increases to 3d12 damage against an undead creature.

You create a floating, spectral hammer within 50 feet of you that lasts for 1 minute. Make a magical attack against a creature within 5 feet of the hammer. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 force damage. This attack is not subject to spell disruption.
Once during each of your turns, when you take an action, you can also move the hammer up to 20 feet and repeat the attack against a creature within 5 feet of it.

Skills: Diplomacy, Insight, and Religious Lore.Trait—Temple Services: You belong to a specific temple dedicated to your chosen deity. You have a residence there, and you can perform religious ceremonies and offer sermons drawn from the sacred teachings of your faith. While near your temple, you can call upon acolytes and fellow priests for assistance, provided the assistance you ask for is not hazardous.
Additionally, when you are in a location that has a temple, shrine, or other presence of your faith, you can expect to receive free healing, care, and religious services for yourself and your adventuring companions from others aligned with your faith.

He's fairly small for a halfling, which is terribly small for normal people, but he doesn't see it as a negative thing. He'll just hamstring tall people, he says.

James is in many ways the stereotyped halfling. Almost childish in nature, he sees the world as a playground, not as something dangerous. He was always the first to volunteer to go outside the borders to trade with the kobolds or dwarves, always the first to see what the new spell or potion people thought up did.

He sees every place as his own to go to, and has grown adept at making others see the fact that he should just be there, or, if it doesn't work, to get in by another means. He always carries at least one set of tools with him, tied to his legs, and is very proficient with using them.

In the city he is often eyed with caution, as people wonder what he's up to this time, but people just naturally like James, no matter what he does. Maybe it's because he looks so innocent. The only one who actively dislikes him is the mayor, due to the incident described in the background. But they still see him as a child more often than he'd like, and he wants to show them he's mature enough to handle things on his own.

Starting from when he was just a child James was always one to explore, to try and get out of the city, which was often looked down upon by the elders of the group. But as they thought he would grow up and out of that field of mind, they left him be. Which, in hindsight, wasn't their best idea. As James, due to being let free, had soon found out a way to get past locked doors, using a needle and a thin chisel, and was found sleeping in the mayors bed one day.

When James was 15 he started going out on his own, into the wilds.
(Perhaps addition for something together with Sixgun)

When he was 20 he got a more serious job, as, though they had tried again and again, they couldn't get the adventurous part out of him. So they put him to work as one of their traders, who would have to buy goods they needed, and sell those they had too much of. And his life, though pretty mundane, was good.

But 4 years later, he came home to hear that there had been a raid, that the children had been taken. Though he was shocked by the news, a new fire also started burning in his eyes. This was his chance to finally prove he could go out on his own, he would finally go into the real world!

He really has no personal connection to the group that was taken. Of course, they're from his village, but none of them were family to him, not even distant relatives. He just joined through the goodness of his heart, and the wanderlust of his feat.

And, of course, the fact they would forgive him for the time he accidentally landed up inside the mayors bedroom.

1. The outside world is a dangerous place, full of beasts, thugs, and hillbillies. You shouldn't go there, ever.
-He doesn't really believe in this one, but is instead just interested in it, wanting to go to it.
2. In the outside world half the races are giants, over 6 lings (average size of a halfling, so about 3 feet) tall.
3. All other races are evil. Even the dwarves and foresters are only a few exceptions of the bunch.

Twice per day, when you make an attack roll, check, or saving throw and get a result you dislike, you can reroll the die and use either result. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you reroll only one of the dice.

Level 1: Thief Sneaking. Thieves are exceptionally good at sneaking in and out of wellguarded
places. Most thieves are experienced burglars who specialize in avoiding detection. Benefit: You can attempt to hide when you are lightly obscured, such as if there are shadows deep enough to cover you from bright light or in a cloud of smoke. You can also hide behind an object that can cover at least a quarter of your body

Once per round, you can deal Sneak Attack damage to a creature that you hit with an attack. To deal this extra damage, you must have advantage against the creature. The damage starts at 2d6 and increases as you gain rogue levels, as noted on the Rogue table.

When you determine the bonus for each of your skills, you use your associated ability modifier or +3, whichever is higher. Additionally, when you make a check using any of your skills, you can take 10 or the result of the die roll, then add any modifiers. As you gain levels, the number you can take in place of the die roll increases, as shown in the Rogue table

You have a second identity that includes documentation, established $acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume a second persona. Additionally, you can
forge documents and create disguises (typically an Intelligence check is required)

You can recognize the common signs and secret markings used by thieves.
When you are in an area of civilization, you can make contact with members of the local thieves’ guild (if any), as well as fences and informants in the criminal underworld. It usually takes you about in hour of searching to make contact with the individual you are seeking out

You strike foes with deadly precision when you
catch them unaware.
Prerequisite: Dexterity 11 or higher
Benefit: When you start your turn hidden from a creature, you have advantage on your first attack roll against that creature during that turn, even if you are revealed or otherwise become unhidden during that turn.

Dooley ... 5 November end date ... you'll have about 500 applications by then

Was looking at a cleric, but as spazz has gone that line, I'll work on something else -- it appears I have some time to work it out.

That's only the ad closure date. It's rolling acceptance so I'll likely have all places filled sooner if interest is as great as you suggest

Feel free to double up on classes as I am more interested in character concepts than party balance. That can be helped out in other ways. That said I'm unlikely to take more than one full arcane class.